Last month, our partners at the Center for Revitalizing American Institutions (RAI) at the Hoover Institution published a landscape analysis of The American Civic Education System. Based on an extensive literature review, individual interviews and focus groups, and a survey of educators and students, RAI documented three broad trends all too familiar to the civic learning field:
- The marginalization of civic learning is generational in nature;
- Civic learning is vital to the strength and sustenance of our constitutional democracy and transcends ideological divides; and
- While the civic learning field has rallied to meet the challenge of the moment, our efforts often lack coherence and we struggle to scale them across our P-20 system.
The report proceeds to make more specific observations, several of which bear repeating:
- While tensions between liberty and democracy are inherent to our system, toxic political polarization is not and must be mitigated;
- Civic learning must be taught as a stand-alone subject across grade bands, but also integrated across subject areas to ensure greater emphasis;
- There is no shortage of civics curricula and resources, but there are a dearth of materials focused on international relations, military, and national security;
- Civic learning is excessively siloed within K–12, higher education, and civil society; and
- Educators want greater access to in person professional development opportunities where they engage with subject matter experts and learn from one another in community.
The authors conclude by recognizing the role for bridge-building leaders and institutions given the aforementioned challenges, one that the CivxNow coalition aspires to play with its 400-plus, pluralistic members in partnership with RAI. This report is an important contribution to our collective work to strengthen our P-20 civic education system.